Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Urban Decay Naked 2 review

Hello! Today I'm throwing my hat into the ring and sharing my review and impressions of the Urban Decay Naked 2 eyeshadow palette. As an owner of the original Naked palette, it took me a long time to decide whether I needed Naked 2. I knew I would really like a few shades including tease, pistol, and verve however I wasn't sure about the rest. What ended up tipping the scales were the reviews and looks by my good friend Lexi of The Former Girl at Bar. I can usually count on my taste being aligned with hers!

The Naked 2 case is made of metal, as opposed to the velvet cardboard casing of Naked 1. The inlay where the shadows sit are plastic, as opposed to the cardboard in Naked 1. The palette seems heavier as well. For everyday use weighty feels nice. For travel, I would prefer a lighter palette.

Here is a picture of the back of the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette packaging. I think the crushed eyeshadow pictures are so pretty.

The palette comes with a mini Urban Decay Lip Junkie lip gloss in Naked and a dual ended brush. I haven't used the Lip Junkie gloss much since I'm not a gloss person. It seems like a good natural color and texture that most people would like. I will probably throw it in my everyday makeup bag for those rare situations when I do feel like topping my lips with gloss. The dual ended eyeshadow brush is great. I use the fluffy dome shaped end (shown below) for application of the shadows. The synthetic fibers are so soft. It works really well for blending eyeshadows. It doesn't lay down too much pigment at one time which I consider to be a plus since Urban Decay's shadows are very pigmented. I think it was well designed for use with Urban Decay shadows. The other end of the brush is a rounded flat liner brush. It's not very thin, so it 's better for drawing a more smudgy line. I really like the dual ended brush because it works well with the palette.

I've included a closeup of the hinge of the Naked 2 palette's case. I noticed that it is made of plastic (not metal) joints which is a weak point. Sometimes when bent too much and too often, plastic joints can break! I hope this is not the case with the plastic in this case. I would be really upset if it broke. You can also notice there's a nice big usable mirror on the inside of the lid.

Here is a comparison picture of Urban Decay Naked (left) vs. Urban Decay Naked 2 (right). I think Naked 1 has more warm browns, pink tones, and dark colors. Naked 2 seems to have a better selection of light shades which seem to lean yellow/peach. I do think the shades are a bit more subdued and a touch cooler than Naked 1. In my opinion Naked 1 is more warm and intense. Naked 2 is more relaxed and neutral.

Here are close up shots of the colors in Urban Decay Naked 2, shot in indirect light so you can see the colors without the sheen seen above.

Finally, here are the swatches of all the colors in Urban Decay Naked 2 shot indoors. I wanted to eliminate shine to better appreciate the base colors. I'd also like to mention that I've organized them out of order to go from light to dark. I think it is easier to understand the spectrum of colors this way.

Foxy is a matte cream. It looks almost invisible on my skin. This is a great base color and was definitely lacking from Naked 1. Bootycall is a shimmery pale peach which is natural and brightening on the eyes. Verve is a cool oyster. I love the hint of grey in this highlight shade. Suspect is an infinitely wearable shade. It is an antique gold that is not too warm for me. Half Baked is my nemesis. I never reached for this in Naked 1. It's too warm and too gold for my taste. I was surprised to hear that most people love it. That said, I think I can make it work in small amounts with my fluffy dual ended brush. Chopper the copper is a shade I thought I would hate too. Coppers are usually to warm and red for my eyes. However, I was surprised that I found myself reaching for chopper fairly often. Again, the fluffy brush allows me to add the smallest hints of copper. I also find that chopper is a slightly cool copper which helps. There is glitter that does fall out, but it doesn't bother me since the glitter isn't colored. YDK is a rosy neutral which is also very pretty. Tease is my favorite color from the palette. I love this rosy tan matte eyeshadow. It's perfect in the crease and blends well with all the colors. Snakebite is a bronze. I prefer this to Smog from Naked 1. It's a little cooler and darker. Pistol is a grey taupe and one of the best shades in the palette. I don't have a shade in my stash quite like it. Busted is a dark plum. Blackout is a matte black.

Overall I love this palette. I'm happy with the colors and the brush. I can see msyelf packing Naked 2 as the solo eyeshadow palette for a trip.What makes this palette standout from Naked 1 are the matte colors. It has a complete set of highlight/base (Foxy), medium blending (Tease), and liner (Blackout) matte colors unlike Naked 1 which only had two medium tone mattes. The other colors are lighter and more neutral to cool which is a lot easier for me to wear. I prefer this palette to the original Naked, but I do think it is worth owning both. They seem quite different to me. In conclusion, Urban Decay Naked 2 makes me happy!

Thanks for reading! Have you or are you planning on trying Naked 2? Do you prefer one over the other? What are your favorite shades?

21 comments:

YAY! Dovey, I am so glad you got this! Thanks so much for the shout out and this is an awesome and thorough overview. Yes, I knew you were going to love Pistol. I, too could pack this palette on a trip and not have to pack any other shadows.

i am considering getting this! it looks gorgeous. i don't use naked 1 as much as i thought i would just because i don't like that there aren't any matte brow-highlighter shades or matte black, so i end up carrying my tarte palette instead. but i think naked 2 is perfect!

great review!i am still hesitating, to be honest..i actually own quite a few UD singles and i already have some of the colors.i think this is a great option if you are starting to build your collection. very versatile and it'd hard to go wrong with any naked palette. :)

Wow! I'm not hardcore enough to own singles yet :) I try not to buy redundant colors either so that makes sense. This is definitely a builder palette. I guess my collection hasn't reached epic proportions yet so I justified it for myself :P

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Cute and Mundane is a chronicle of my love affair with art, beauty, and color. You'll find larger than life photographs, views, and reviews of my latest makeup, perfume, and skincare finds, plus tidbits from my everyday life and travels.